Life buoy



TO LO Nov.--Z6, 1963 LIFE BUOY Filed March 3, 1961 INVENTOR. L 0 7'0 ATTORNEVS United States Patent Uffice 3-,! 1 1,695 Patented Nov. 26, 19633,111,696 LIFE BUOY To Lo, Kowloontong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, assignor tCheoy Lee Shipyard, Ngau Chi Wan, Kowloon, Hong Kong, a co-partnershipFiled Mar. 3, 1961, Ser. No. 93,181 8 Claims. (Cl. 9-340) This inventionrelates to buoyant materials and more specifically to improved lifebuoys.

It is a principal object of this invention to provide a life buoy havinghigh ratios of its strength and its buoyancy to its weight.

It is another object of the invention to provide such a life buoy whichis rigid and very durable and which retains its high strength to weightratio and buoyancy to weight ratio even after substantial abuse.

It is another object of the invention to provide such a strong and rigidlife buoy which is substantially impermeable to water so that it may beused in water for indefinite periods of time without reducing itsbuoyancy.

It is another object of the invention to provide such an improved lifebuoy which is pleasing in appearance and which is very resistant to theelements and retains its pleasing appearance after substantial periodsof exposure to the elements.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingdescription read in conjunction with the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an improved life buoy constructed in accordancewith the principles of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the life buoy of FIG. 1 taken alongthe plane indicated by the line and the arrows at 2-2 of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view similar to FIG. 2 showing analternative form of construction of the life buoy of this invention.

Referring now in detail to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, thelife buoy illustrated therein comprises a buoyant body indicatedgenerally by the arrow which has the general shape of a tore. The body10 is surrounded by a grab line 12 which is attached to the body 10 byfour cleats 14 to be described in greater detail hereinafter.

As best illustrated in FIG. 2, the body 10 is constructed of a pair ofcomplimentary generally frusto-toric shells 16 and 18. As indicated in'FIG. 2, the term frustotoric is employed herein to define the shapebounded between one-half of a tore and a generally central planeperpendicular to the axis of the tore. The shells 16 and 18 areconstructed of a rigid and water-impermeable plastic, preferablyfiberglass matting impregnated with a polyester resin. Suitablepolyester resins for this purpose are the rigid cross-linked resinsknown to the art produced by copolymerizing styrene and an unsaturatedpolyester such as polyethylene glycol maleate and the like.

Mounted inside of each of the shells 16 and 18 is a quadrant chock ofwood 24 with each chock 20 positioned under one of the cleats 14. Theouter surfaces of the chocks 24 are shaped to conform to the insidesurface of the shell sections 16 and 18 and are cemented to such innersurfaces by means of a layer of a suitable bonding material such as theabove-mentioned polyester resins. The remainder of the cavity insideeach of the shell sections 16 and 18 is filled with a generally rigidand substantially impermeable body 22 and 24 respectively of plasticfoam. The convex surfaces of the bodies 22 and 24 are bonded to theinner surface of the shell sections 16 and 18, respectively, by asuitable bonding material such as the above-mentioned polyesters. Thesurfaces of the bodies 22 and 24 adjacent to the wood chocks 20 are alsobonded to the chocks 26 by such materials.

A preferred material from which the bodies 22 and 24 of plastic foam arefabricated is generally rigid polyurethane foam which is cellular innature with the cells of the body unconnected so that the mass ofplastic foam is impermeable.

The two shell sections 16 and 18, with their bodies of plastic foam 22and 24 contained therein, are rigidly attached together by a layer 26 ofrigid material bonded on its opposite sides to the flat sides of theplastic foam bodies 22 and 24 and to the edges of the shell sections 16and 18. This bonded seam 26 is constructed to impart rigidity to thelife buoy along its central plane perpendicular to its toric axis. Inthis regard it should be noted that this central seam is preferablyformed of a layer of fiberglass matting impregnated with theabovementioned polyester resins.

The four metal cleates 14 mentioned above are attached to the peripheryof the life buoy at equal intervals therearound by means of wood screws28 screwed through the shell sections 16 and 18 and into the quadrantwood chocks 20. In this manner the cleats 14 are securely anchored tothe life buoy. The cleats 14 and wood screws 28 are preferably made ofchrome-plated brass which gives the life buoy a pleasing appearance andwhich are resistant to corrosion.

In the alternative form of the life buoy of the invention which isilustrated in FIG. 3 the plastic foam bodies 22 and 24 are provided withfrusto-toric cavities 30 and 32 therein which together define a toricvoid in the assembled life buoy. The surfaces of the cavities 3t and 32are covered with a layer of fiberglass and polyester resin bondedthereto which effectively seals the walls of the cavities and whichprovides additional strength and rigidity of the life buoy both in adirection perpendicular to the axis of the life buoy and in a directionparallel to its axis.

The life buoy of this invention may be constructed very efficiently by(1) molding fiberglass and polyester resin into the shape of the shellsections 16 and 18, (2) mounting the quadrant wood chocks 20 in placewith their outer surfaces bonded to the inner surfaces of the shellsections 16 and 18, (3) placing the bodies 22 and 24 of plastic foammaterial in place in the shell sections 16 and 18 and bonding the convexsurfaces of the bodies 22 and 24 to the shell sections 16 and 18, (4)applying a layer of fiberglass and polyester resin to the flat face ofeither half of the life buoy (and applying the fiberglass polyestercoating to the surfaces of the cavities 30 and 32), (5) bringing the twohalves of the life buoy together in complimentary relation to define thecompleted body 1%) of the life buoy prior to hardening of the resinapplied in step 4, and (6) attaching the cleats 14, with the grab line12 therein, to the wood chocks 20 by means of the screws 28. Preferablythe skin of the life buoy is then coated with a fiameproof polyurethanepaint which gives the surface of the life buoy a high gloss and enhancesthe hardness and water resistance of the surface.

With the life buoy constructed in accordance with the embodiment of FIG.2 and having a diameter of thirty inches and major and minor axes of thetoric section of six and three inches respectively, the life buoy weighseight pounds, has a buoyancy capacity of 1,107.74 cubic inchesequivalent to forty pounds in fresh water and a floating capacity ofthirty-two pounds in fresh water. The hollow body construction of FIG. 3having similar dimensions and a sectional area of 14.69 square inchesweighs six and one-half pounds, has a similar buoyancy capacity, and aflotation capacity of thirty-three and onehalf pounds in fresh water.

While two embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated anddescribed in detailherein, it is obvious that many modifications in theconstruction and arrangement of parts and the choice of materials may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

1. A generally rigid life buoy which is impermeable to water and hashigh ratios of its strength and its buoyancy to its weight whichcomprises a shell of generally toric shape formed of a rigid waterimpermeable plastic and a body of generally rigid and substantiallyimpermeable plastic foam mounted in said shell with the outer surfacesof said body bonded to the inner surfaces of said shell, said bodyproviding substantially rigid connection between opposite wall portionsof said shell throughout a substantial part of the sectional area ofsaid life buoy, said life buoy being characterized further by theinclusion of a plurality of wooden chocks mounted in said shell adjacentto and spaced around the periphery of said shell, the outer surfaces ofsaid chocks being bonded to the interior surfaces of said shell, a grabline encircling said life buoy, a plurality of metal cleats holding saidgrab line to the periphery of said shell, and a plurality of screwsextending through said cleats and said shell and anchored in said woodenchocks.

2. A generally rigid life buoy which is impermeable to water and hashigh ratios of its strength and its buoyancy to its weight whichcomprises a pair of complementary shells of generally frusto-toric shapeformed of a rigid water impermeable plastic, a body of generally rigidand substantially impermeable plastic foam mounted in each of saidshells and having a generally convex surface bonded to the concavesurface of said shell and a generally flat surface portion lying alongthe flat side of said shell, and a layer of generally rigid plasticbonded on opposite sides thereof to said generally flat surfaces of saidbodies and securing said bodies and shells together in a generally toricshape.

3. The improved life buoy of claim 2 in which a plurality of woodenchocks are mounted in each of said shells positioned adjacent to one ofsaid chocks in the other of said shells; a plurality of metal cleats arepro vided around the periphery of said life buoy with each cieat havingan end thereof positioned above one of said chocks in each of saidshells, and a plurality of screws are provided extending into saidshells and attaching said ends of said cleats to the chocks thereunder.

4. The improved life buoy of claim 3 in which a grab line is providedsurrounding said life buoy and extending 4 between said cleats and saidlife buoy intermediate of said ends of said cleats.

5. The improved life buoy of claim 2 in which said bodies of plasticfoam together with said layer of generally rigid plastic define aninterior supporting structure extending continuously between saidshells.

6. The improved life buoy of claim 2 in which each of said bodies ofplastic foam is provided with a generally frusto-toric cavity thereinwhereby said bodies in assembled relation define a generally toriccavity in said life buoy.

7. The improved life buoy of claim 6 in which a generally rigid andwater impermeable plastic coating is provided along the walls of saidcavity, and said coating is bonded to said layer.

8. The method of making a life buoy which comprises: forming a pair ofgenerally rigid and water impermeable plastic shells havingcomplementary generally frustotoric shapes, forming a plurality ofwooden chocks shaped to fit in said shells at peripheral positionstherein, placing said chocks in said shells at said peripheral positionsand bonding a surface portion of each of said checks to one of saidshells, forming a pair of complementary bodies of generally rigid andwater impermeable plastic foam shaped to fill substantially theremainder of the volumes of said shells and define a generally flatsurface portion opposite to the curved sides of said shells, placingsaid bodies of plastic foam in said shells and bonding the concavesurfaces of said shells to said bodies, bringing said two bodiestogether and bonding said flat surface portions together to define agenerally toric life buoy, peripherally encircling said life buoy with agrab line, and attaching said grab line to said life buoy by placingmetal cleats against the periphery of said life buoy and insertingscrews through said cleats and said shells into said chocks.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,201,556 Chlumsky Oct. 17, 1916 2,344,652 Spanner Mar. 21, 19442,482,074 Stephens Sept. 13, 1949 2,794,756 Leverenz June 4, 1957FOREIGN PATENTS 15,303 Great Britain 1908 455,135 Great Britain Oct. 14,1936 153,922 Sweden Mar. 27, 1956

2. A GENERALLY RIGID LIFE BUOY WHICH IS IMPERMEABLE TO WATER AND HASHIGH RATIOS OF ITS STRENGTH AND ITS BUOYANCY TO ITS WEIGHT WHICHCOMPRISES A PAIR OF COMPLEMENTARY SHELLS OF GENERALLY FRUSTO-TORIC SHAPEFORMED OF A RIGID WATER IMPERMEABLE PLASTIC, A BODY OF GENERALLY RIGIDAND SUBSTANTIALLY IMPERMEABLE PLASTIC KFOAM MOUNTED IN EACH OF SAIDSHELLS AND HAVING A GENERALLY CONVEX SURFACE BONDED TO THE CONCAVESURFACE OF SAID SHELL AND A GENERALLY FLAT SURFACE PORTION LYING ALONGTHE FLAT SIDE OF SAID SHELL, AND A LAYER OF GENERALLY RIGID PLASTICBONDED ON OPPOSITE SIDES THEREOF TO SAID GENERALLY FLAT SURFACES OF SAIDBODIES AND SECURING SAID BODIES AND SHELLS TOGETHER IN A GENERALLY TORICSHAPE.